found dying fish with black on scales..pic included

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I went out to my pond this morning and found one of my fish sideways in one of my plants. Tried holding it and putting it where the aerator is but didn't seem to help and started checking it out and saw this black on its scale. Since I know nothing about what diseases might affect them I decided to remove it since I knew it was going to die but wanted to come here and see who could tell me what it might be and how I can prevent it. All of my pond tests have been excellent and we are having babies so was feeling really good and then this happened. I added salt to the pond after this in hopes this might help and do most of you keep your salinity level consistent all year? Thanks in advance...Julie
 

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mrsclem

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Julie- Sorry to hear you are having problems. Not sure what the fish is suffering with but adding salt may keep you from adding medications that could help. I learned the hard way after treating with salt and then having to do water changes to get the salt level to zero. Hopefully someone can identify the problem. Do you have the most recent test results on your pond?
 
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Julie- Sorry to hear you are having problems. Not sure what the fish is suffering with but adding salt may keep you from adding medications that could help. I learned the hard way after treating with salt and then having to do water changes to get the salt level to zero. Hopefully someone can identify the problem. Do you have the most recent test results on your pond?
I do...ph is 8.2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, kh was 17 drops (sorry for not having the calcuations but it's consistent) I've added salt previously on advice from the forum and as such should have kept up with it but haven't because the person that rebuilt our pond suggested that I only use it when there was an issue. So many different opinions! I have lost a couple of fish in the last couple of months but they all seem healthy and are having babies.
 

Meyer Jordan

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I do...ph is 8.2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, kh was 17 drops (sorry for not having the calcuations but it's consistent) I've added salt previously on advice from the forum and as such should have kept up with it but haven't because the person that rebuilt our pond suggested that I only use it when there was an issue. So many different opinions! I have lost a couple of fish in the last couple of months but they all seem healthy and are having babies.

You were told correctly. Salt should be used only when there is an issue and that particular issue indicates the use of salt. Salt IS NOT a cure-all and if used improperly can create its own problems.
Your fish appears to have the beginnings of an ulcer. It could have been caused by either parasites or an internal bacterial infection. 'Scrape and Scope' is the only sure way to determine which.
Curious that you have a reading of 0.00 Nitrate.
 
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This is the first fish in 6 years that has shown black on the sides of it. My ammonia, nitrite and nitrates always show as 0 based on the color on the chart. What is the nitrate supposed to be as it's never been above that level? Maybe that's my problem and I need to raise the nitrate level?
 
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Well thank goodness because I was feeling so good about all of my levels and the fish doing well and having babies. Tried googling how to raise the nitrate level and there was nothing except trying to lower them! I test my water several times a week and only feed them once a week as well. I love sitting outside and enjoying them and caring for them but will probably not ever scrape and scope a problem but will otherwise try to do my best by them.
 
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Just wondering if you knew if this fish was a female or not. When my female fish get chased a little too much they got scrapes from rocks they get pushed against. My male to female ratio is a lot better but when I had 4 or 5 males chasing one plump female it seems like the female always got beat up bad and I lost a few of them as a result from their bruises.
 
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I have no idea if it was female or not but I should probably educate myself since I'm assuming I had the perfect opportunity to find out since I had it in my hands. I hope it was a female and that's what happened rather than a disease.
 
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I can usually tell which are the males and females just by watching them during spawning. I'm thinking since you have had babies there must be spawning going on. Obviously it's too late for this fish but do you ever see fish chasing each other in the morning or night? The males are always the ones doing the chasing so you can determine sex just by behaviour. My fish actually can get pretty violent and there are big splashes of water when the males corner a female.
 
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You were told correctly. Salt should be used only when there is an issue and that particular issue indicates the use of salt. Salt IS NOT a cure-all and if used improperly can create its own problems.
Your fish appears to have the beginnings of an ulcer. It could have been caused by either parasites or an internal bacterial infection. 'Scrape and Scope' is the only sure way to determine which.
Curious that you have a reading of 0.00 Nitrate.
What ulcer @Meyer Jordan ?
All I can see isa goldfish that happens to have some black scales on irs side, where is the ulcer?

Dave
Scrape and scope by all means but if garden lady doesnt have a microscope who can do it for her ?
Salt @garden lady has no place in a pond it can comp;icate maters if other treatments are needed , it remains in the pond until removed by repeated water changes a salt dip yes but not in the pond

Dave
 
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We have a tendency to see things differently?
Sure we do thats what makes us who we are Meyer but there is no ulcer on this fish just what we would call sumi in the koi world [black].
Hopwever we still need to get to the bottom of this, goldfish that are in the cream of condition dont just die his has to be either a water quality problem or parasite of some sort .
Like you said my fried these fish need a scrape and scope first to see what the problem is if any .
Plus we need a battery of water perameter readings current

Dave
 

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On several occasions, I have observed ulceration develop at what could have very easily been initially described as sumi such as the Goldfish pictured in this thread. As such, it does no harm to investigate this possibility further, ruling out ulceration if it is unsupported. A cursory visual inspection via a photograph is just that...cursory.....nothing more.
 

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